Torill Kove (born 25 May 1958) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

film director and animator. She won the 2007

Academy Award for Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

for the film ''

The Danish Poet ''The Danish Poet'' ( no, Den danske dikteren) is a 2006 animated short film written, directed, and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann. A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Mikrofilm AS of Norway, it has ...

'', co-produced by Norway's Mikrofilm AS and the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

(NFB).

Life and career

Born in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

, in the south of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

near

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Kove has lived in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada since 1982. She moved to Montreal to continue her academic studies in

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

earning a master's degree (MUP '89) at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

later changing her major to animation. Kove has previously stated that she in fact did not watch much animation until she was in her thirties. Unemployed in the fall of 1991, rather than look for work she spent time at the NFB's former public access facility on St. Denis Street, where every day she would watch films. "Two things happened as I was sifting through the NFB animation collection: one was excitement at having discovered such a wonderful treasure of films, and the other was a voice in me that said loud and clear 'I want to do this.'" Her first Academy Award nomination was for ''

My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts ''My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts'' is a 1999 animated short by Torill Kove. Co-produced by Marcy Page of the National Film Board of Canada and Lars Tømmerbakke of Studio Magica in Norway, the film humorously recounts a tall tale about ...

'' in 2000, inspired by the story of her own grandmother who had ironed the shirts of Norway's

King Haakon VII Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957. Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick VI ...

for many years. In 2013 she directed the Danish-Norwegian-Swedish animated feature ''

Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins ''Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins'' ( sv, Hokus Pokus Alfons Åberg) is a 2013 Danish-Norwegian-Swedish animated feature film directed by Torill Kove. It is based on the book of the same title from the Alfie Atkins book series by Gunilla Bergström. P ...

'', based on the

Alfie Atkins Alfie Atkins ( sv, Alfons Åberg) is a fictional character created by the author Gunilla Bergström from Sweden in 1972. Alfie Atkins appears in books and animated cartoons. Alfie plays the role of a normal child, living with his father. During ...

books by Swedish children's book author Gunilla Bergström. Kove's 2014 NFB animated short, '' Me and My Moulton'', is an autobiographical film about a little girl’s desire to fit in, premiering at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duv ...

. It was then nominated for an Academy Award on January 15, 2015. Her films ''

'' and ''

'' were included in the Animation Show of Shows. In February 2015, Kove stated that her next film would be based on her life in Montreal, specifically in the

Shaughnessy Village Shaughnessy Village (sometimes referred to as the Concordia Ghetto) is a neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located on the western side of the Ville-Marie borough. It is bounded by Guy Street to the east, Atwater Street to the west, Sherb ...

neighbourhood. In May 2016, Kove stated on the NFB's blog that she was in production on a more minimalist film, '' Threads'', inspired by her experiences as an adoptive parent: In addition to directing and animating short films, she has also illustrated several children's books. On September 3, 2015, she received the , Norway's top cultural prize.

References

External links

Films by Kove
at National Film Board of Canada (nfb.ca) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kove, Torill 1958 births Canadian women film directors Canadian children's book illustrators Norwegian film directors Norwegian women film directors Norwegian animated film directors Canadian animated film directors Norwegian animators Norwegian emigrants to Canada Canadian animators Living people Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Concordia University alumni People from Hamar National Film Board of Canada people Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Animated Short Artists from Montreal Film directors from Montreal Norwegian women animators Canadian women animators McGill University alumni